Live coverage of Egypt unrest - February 7

7 pm – US President Barack Obama says Egypt is “making progress” in emerging from the political crisis that has rocked the country.

In a briefing, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says that “Words are not enough”, calling on Mubarak’s government to hold talks with numerous opposition parties. He also says Egypt must “uphold the treaties and obligations” to which it is currently committed.

Egypt's paid thugs EGYPT Enter the 'baltagiya': Egypt's repression spills out of the torture chambers

6 pm - Mubarak’s cabinet approves a plan to increase public sector salaries by 15 percent and to spend an additional 6.5 billion Egyptian pounds (940 million dollars) to increase pensions.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah says he would like to be in Cairo for the anti-Mubarak protests. In a televised speech, Nasrallah also slams the US, saying: "The United States is trying to contain the revolution and improve its own ugly image in the Middle East and the Islamic world ... after years of backing the worst dictatorships our region has ever seen."

5 pm - Germany suspends arms exports to Egypt, citing human rights concerns regarding the Egyptian authorities’ response to the protests.

4 pm - Google executive Wael Ghonim, who had been missing in Cairo since January 27, has been released, according to Al Arabiya television.

3 pm - Egyptian authorities shorten curfew imposed in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez by one hour, state TV reports. The new curfew will be between 8 pm and 6 am.
.

2 pm - The Cairo stock exchange, closed since January 27, is set to reopen on Sunday, an official spokesman says.

1 pm - Hosni Mubarak’s new cabinet holds first full meeting for the first time since the beginning of the crisis.

Meanwhile, life in Cairo gradually returns to normal, with several businesses, banks, bridges, and roads reopening.

12 pm – Protesters block access to the Mugamma building, the centre of Egypt's bureaucracy, despite dozens of people waiting to have documents such as passports or birth certificates processed.

Protesters seize a man with a petrol can that they say was trying to set the building on fire and turn him in to troops patrolling Tahrir Square.

9 am - Unknown attackers fire four rocket-propelled grenades at a police barracks in Rafah, near the Egypt-Gaza border, according to security sources.

8 am – Tahrir Square remains occupied by thousands of protesters who have spent the night there, calling for the immediate resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.

Protesters surround army tanks deployed in the square out of fear that any movement by the army would pave the way for pro-Mubarak rioters to return.